A Forum for Orthodox Jewish thought on Halacha, Hashkafa, and the social issues of our time.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Jewish Education is the Key

Large families like this are common in the Charedi world

There are new statistics being gleaned from that now famous
(infamous?) 2013 Pew survey of US Jewry. This time pertaining specifically to Orthodox
Jewry. To the best of my knowledge there has thus far been only 2 quick
reactions to it. One by Rabbi Avorohom Gordimer and the other by Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein. Both of which I feel are right on target.

Here is my own quick take on it. I’m sure there will be many
others forthcoming. Some quick. And some more in depth.

This study reveals that about 2/3 of all Orthodox Jewry in
America are Charedi. About 1/3 are Modern Orthodox. This should be no surprise
to anyone that reads this blog. The internal growth rate of Charedim in America since the Holocaust is geometric with each successive generation –
with 10 or more children per family not all that uncommon. Multiplying exponentially
with each generation. Modern Orthodox Jews – while having a far greater
internal growth rate than secular Jews and non Jews - do not on average come anywhere
near that number. While there is attrition in both segments, even assuming
those leaving the fold are equal in both segments, it isn’t to hard to see
which growth rate will better compensate for that loss. As time passes on, the percentages of
Charedim will grow even higher.

(Rabbi Adlerstein correctly worries about the 17% of Jews
that were raised Orthodox Jews leaving the fold. Those are indeed tragic numbers.
This phenomenon has been discussed here before and is beyond the scope of this
post.)

One startling statistic was the lack of certainty about God’s
existence. One would think the number of Charedim that have these kinds of doubts is statistically insignificant.
Well that’s not true. The percentage is low at
4%. Looking at the sheer numbers, however, - if there are say 100,000 Charedi Jews in
America (a random number based on my own conservative guess– no clue what the numbers actually
are) that would mean that there are thousands of Charedi Jews in America that question the existence of God.

The percentages increase dramatically in Modern Orthodoxy. Fully 23% of Modern Orthodox Jews question God’s
existence! (In terms of numbers – the difference is not as dramatic since there
are only about half the amount of Modern Orthodox Jews as there are Charedim. –
But still - shocking numbers in both cases as far as I am concerned.

That there are more Modern Orthodox Jews than Charedim that skip rituals is not a surprise either. That’s
because of the large ‘MO-Lite’ segment I often talk about. They are observant more for
social reasons than ideological ones. (Not to mention those who are Orthoprax
non believers that no doubt do not practice any rituals at all when no one is
looking. Why would they?). While there are Charedi-Lites as well, my guess is
that the percentage of MO Jews that are Lite is greater than the percentage of Charedim
that are Lite.

Not surprising is the fact that the traditional affiliation
or support of Jews for the Democratic Party has virtually evaporated in Orthodox
circles even while remaining relatively stable in non Orthodox ones. Most Orthodox
Jews tend to be far more in line with the values espoused by the Republican Party.
This can be seen in issues like gay marriage. Most Democrats and non Orthodox
Jews support it. Most Republicans and Orthodox Jews don’t.

Another surprising statistic is the comparative educational
levels among Jews of all denominations or unaffiliated. The winner? Modern
Orthodox Jews are the most educated demographic of all of Jewry. 65% of all MO
Jews have a Bachelors degree or higher. That compares with 60% of non Orthodox
Jews and 38% of Charedim. That is matched by similarly surprising differences
in high income. Again, the winner is MO. 37% earn $150,000 or more compared with
29% of Reform, 23% of Conservative, and 22% unaffiliated.

These are the numbers. Why this is the case is something
many of us can debate. Although it isn’t too hard to see a correlation between
educational levels and income. Or religious values and politically conservative
ones.

But there is one thing that does stand out. It is something
Rabbi Adlerstein pointed out in his review of these numbers. It is that Jewish
education works. It is in my view the single biggest factor if keeping people
Jewish and observant from one generation to the next. Here is the money quote from JTA:

Four out of five Orthodox Jewish parents with kids at home
have at least one child in yeshiva or Jewish day school, and about
three-quarters of Orthodox Jewish adults (73 percent) attended a Jewish day
school or yeshiva as children (81 percent among haredim, 57 percent among the
modern Orthodox). By contrast, only 17 percent of other Jews went to yeshiva or
Jewish day school growing up.

One might be tempted to say that correlation does not equal
cause. That’s true. But is anyone ready to tell me that smoking does not cause
lung cancer? To the best of my knowledge there has been no direct causal link
between smoking and lung cancer. Only a statistical one.

If you want your children and grandchildren to remain
Jewish, send them to a religious day school and high school. There are no
guarantees of course. But there is not a doubt in my mind that the chances of
success increase dramatically when you do.

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About Me

My outlook on Judaism is based mostly on the teachings of my primary Rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik from whom I received my rabbinic ordination. It is also based on a search for spiritual truth. Among the various sources that put me on the right path, two great philosophic works stand out: “Halakhic Man” and “Lonely Man of Faith” authored by the pre-eminent Jewish philosopher and theologian, Rabbi, Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Of great significance is Rabbi, Dr. Norman Lamm's conceptualization and models of Torah U’Mada and Dr. Eliezer Berkovits who introduced me to the world of philosophic thought. Among my early influences were two pioneers of American Elementary Torah Chinuch, Rabbis Shmuel Kaufman and Yaakov Levi. The Yeshivos I attended were Yeshivas Telshe for early high school and more significantly, the Hebrew Theological College where for a period of ten years, my Rebbeim included such great Rabbinic figures as Rabbis Mordechai Rogov, Shmaryahu Meltzer, Yaakov Perlow, Herzl Kaplan, and Selig Starr. I also attended Roosevelt University where I received my Bachelor's Degree - majoring in Psychology.